# Can you fill you humidor too full?



## mrmsav (Jul 17, 2014)

I returned a couple of days ago from a trip to the Caribbean, and brought back about 80 cigars. We are allowed to bring back 100 per person.

I have a 150 cigar humidor, and I had 50 or 60 before I left. It is a 3 drawer unit that I typically have (6) 65 Boveda packs in. When stocking it with my new accquisitions I found myself in places covering my Boveda packs. The humidity in the humidor seems fairly stable, but do I need to worry about having it too full, that there is not proper air circulation between the drawers?

Thanks in advance,

Mike


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## ForceofWill (Sep 6, 2008)

As long as you layer the packs in there you shouldn't have a problem. I'm slightly more concerned with what you bought while in the Caribbean. Did you pick up CCs? If so I hope they were from a LCDH.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

mrmsav said:


> I returned a couple of days ago from a trip to the Caribbean, and brought back about 80 cigars. We are allowed to bring back 100 per person.
> 
> I have a 150 cigar humidor, and I had 50 or 60 before I left. It is a 3 drawer unit that I typically have (6) 65 Boveda packs in. When stocking it with my new accquisitions* I found myself in places covering my Boveda packs. *The humidity in the humidor seems fairly stable, but do I need to worry about having it too full, that there is not proper air circulation between the drawers?
> 
> ...


That (Above) is definitely a BIG No No! You cannot allow cigars to touch your humidity source. If they do, those cigars will suck up a ton of moisture from it. Those cigars will be way over humidified and will, at some point, start to crack/split.

That humidor is way too small for what you have in it. The number of cigars a humidor can store, is based on the standard corona size cigar 5.0" x 42rg. Most experienced people will tell you to cut that number by 30%, even if you are only storing true corona sized cigars.

If there is no source of forced air circulation in that humidor, you will start having major problems within a week or less. If you do not have one to use, I suggest that you get a 40qt igloo cooler, or similar and divide you stash between it and your humidor.


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

I know it's a serious question, but the first thought in my head was, "Does the door shut? Yes? Then it's not too full".


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## NormH3 (Apr 20, 2015)

JohnnyFlake said:


> That (Above) is definitely a BIG No No! You cannot allow cigars to touch your humidity source. If they do, those cigars will suck up a ton of moisture from it. Those cigars will be way over humidified and will, at some point, start to crack/split.


It's always been my understanding that cigars touching Boveda packs is not an issue. Has that changed?


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## ForceofWill (Sep 6, 2008)

NormH3 said:


> It's always been my understanding that cigars touching Boveda packs is not an issue. Has that changed?


Boveda are GTG on top of cigars.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

NormH3 said:


> It's always been my understanding that cigars touching Boveda packs is not an issue. Has that changed?


I have no idea where that understanding was developed, but a cigar touching any source of humidification, will suck moisture out of it, until it swells and splits.


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## ForceofWill (Sep 6, 2008)

Some of my stash, definitely not ruined.


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## fimpster (Feb 24, 2016)

From Boveda's website FAQ's

http://www.bovedainc.com/solutions/tobacco/tobacco-faq/



> Can Boveda directly touch my tobacco?
> Absolutely. Boveda is 100% safe to lay on / in / amongst your tobacco.


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## Cibao Valley (Jul 8, 2015)

I have two full humidors plus three jars. All have bovedas and all the packs touch the cigars. No problem. As for the op's question, as long as the cigars can still comfortably fit inside the humidor and your humidification medium can maintain a steady desired RH then you won't have a problem. 
Full is ok. Now, an empty humidor.......that's a problem


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## Hudabear (Feb 1, 2016)

It may not be accurate but I heard a humidor analogized to a refrigerator, where the fridge works better with more things in there to distribute the cold air. Does this truly translate to cigars? I'm not sure but it's what I saw in a xikar how-to video.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

I've tried to help you out, via my suggestions. What you do, is up to you. It is what it is!

Good Luck!


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## mrmsav (Jul 17, 2014)

Thanks for all the feedback. Cheers!


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## mrmsav (Jul 17, 2014)

Cibao Valley said:


> I have two full humidors plus three jars. All have bovedas and all the packs touch the cigars. No problem. As for the op's question, as long as the cigars can still comfortably fit inside the humidor and your humidification medium can maintain a steady desired RH then you won't have a problem.
> Full is ok. Now, an empty humidor.......that's a problem


Empty Humidor is a sad humidor..lol


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## mrmsav (Jul 17, 2014)

ForceofWill said:


> As long as you layer the packs in there you shouldn't have a problem. I'm slightly more concerned with what you bought while in the Caribbean. Did you pick up CCs? If so I hope they were from a LCDH.


Yeah, they were CC's from the official retailer. No beach bananas here!!


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## deke (Aug 19, 2013)

I have Bovedas scattered in my humi, touching cigars, with no problem.


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## Rondo (Sep 9, 2015)

Touching or not, the osmotic membrane of a Boveda pack will only release its labeled Rh.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

General rule of thumb....any humidor should be filled no more than 75% to allow proper RH within that space. Too full and it will rob the cigars of RH as the numbers will bounce up and down...same goes for a humidor that is only 50% filled.


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## ras_oscar (Aug 30, 2015)

Hudabear said:


> It may not be accurate but I heard a humidor analogized to a refrigerator, where the fridge works better with more things in there to distribute the cold air. Does this truly translate to cigars? I'm not sure but it's what I saw in a xikar how-to video.


When you open a wood humidor, all the air inside quickly reaches equilibrium with the ambient air in the room. If the room air is dryer, the air humidity in the humidor drops. If its more humid, it rises. You close the lid and the humidity media has to work to reregulate the humidity in the humidor to the desired RH. This is why I have installed a wireless sensor in my humidor. To allows me to monitor the RH without opening the lid.

If your humidor has more of anything in it ( sticks, humidity packs, empty Tupperware) there is less air lost and the humidity media needs to work less to return to the target RH.

FYI all of the following function as humidity media:

Cigars
Spanish cedar
Boveda packs
Heartfelt beads
Kitty Litter
Shot glass of distilled water


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## NormH3 (Apr 20, 2015)

JohnnyFlake said:


> I have no idea where that understanding was developed, but a cigar touching any source of humidification, will suck moisture out of it, until it swells and splits.


Not sure I agree with this. If I have a Boveda pack rated at 65% and I prefer my cigars at 65% how is it going to suck the moisture out of it.?


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

NormH3 said:


> Not sure I agree with this. If I have a Boveda pack rated at 65% and I prefer my cigars at 65% how is it going to suck the moisture out of it.?


Many say that it cannot happen with Boveda packets. If that's the case, then it's not a concern. However, think of the cigar as a dry sponge. It has no membrane, or whatever, limiting it to sucking up only 65% of the available RH. If it continues sucking up the RH to a point where the ambient RH is less than 65%, the Boveda packet should continue to release RH.

That's just my humble opinion!


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## socalocmatt (Dec 22, 2010)

I know I'm beating a dead horse but Boveda packs are perfectly fine when touching the cigars as long as the rh is what you want your stick to be at.



JohnnyFlake said:


> Many say that it cannot happen with Boveda packets. If that's the case, then it's not a concern. However, think of the cigar as a dry sponge. It has no membrane, or whatever, limiting it to sucking up only 65% of the available RH. If it continues sucking up the RH to a point where the ambient RH is less than 65%, the Boveda packet should continue to release RH.
> 
> That's just my humble opinion!


Looking at the dry sponge analogy, a sponge can only soak up as much water as what is available. In the same manner, a cigar will never be able to soak up more humidity than the rested ambient rh as long as that humidity is limited to the rested ambient rh. That is what the Boveda packs do. They limit the rh output and thus disallow a cigar to absorb a humidity that is greater than the stated humidity on the pack.

The only point of concern that I would have with putting cigars in contact with a Boveda pack is when dealing with extremely old packs where the package itself fails. The pack will leak and you could possibly mess up a cigar or two that way if it goes unnoticed.










To the OP's main question:
You will want some extra room in you humi because you will want some air exchange. It will help in the long run with resting/aging. If you're opening you humi a couple of times a day, every day, then it's less of a concern (IMO) but most people don't.


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## demuths1770 (Jan 2, 2014)

i personally dont see an issue with boveda touching cigars. i have stored my cigars that way for over two years now and look at it as if it was a bad thing cigar companies would not just put them on the top of ciagrs in boxes and retailers would not put them in bags when shipping cigars. boveda wanted to make it as easy as possible for cigar smokers and companies. as for the space you will want some space for air exchange but not a lot of space is needed. personally i would load the drawers up with cigars and put the boveda on top. that way you have some air space at the top with the boveda packs and the space around the packs. thats all just my .02 though


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